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Funding crisis hits referral hospitals

The country’s referral hospitals are heading for disaster as government has allocated them almost the same funding as in the last budget, which barely met the costs, The Nation has learnt.

The situation is leading hospitals to resort to begging from well-wishers and borrowing to feed patients.

Facing budgetary challenges: Mzuzu Central Hospital
Facing budgetary challenges: Mzuzu Central Hospital

The country’s referral hospitals have been facing major challenges to do with medication, meals, equipment and quality of service delivery since last year.

The Nation has also learned that the financial problems have not spared district hospitals.

“Mzuzu Central Hospital [MCH] is grappling with low funding because government did not meet ORT [other recurrent transactions] budget last year and has maintained the low funding this year as such the hospital can hardly fund its operations,” Frank Banda, the hospital’s spokesperson said on Thursday.

The hospital’s projected ORT budget is K577 million ($1.3 million), excluding budget for drugs, which is handled centrally.

But government has only approved K362 million ($804 444)—the same amount it approved last year—leaving the hospital with a K215 million ($477 778) deficit.

Banda said last year, the projected budget was K540 million ($1.2 million), but not all the money was released, leading to failure to meet the cost of buying essentials.

Banda said the Norwegian government helped the hospital with some funding, but the money did not suffice the whole year. Currently, the hospital is facing serious problems to pay for water, electricity, food, and equipment.

MCH spends about K5 million a month on food, but at the allocation government has maintained, the hospital would be running out of money shortly.

“It is the plea of the hospital that if there are donors out there that are able to provide maize flour, they should come forward,” said Banda.

Similar funding woes have not spared Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe.

A visit to the hospital by The Nation crew revealed that the most affected departments at the hospital are the children’s anaesthesia and the female surgical ward.

A nurse who sought anonymity for fear of reprisals, said: “This is due to low funding, whereby health personnel are refusing to work overtime, as they have not been paid for extra working hours for three months now.”

The nurse said low staffing levels have seen available nurses on duty during day and night shifts at the children’s ward reducing from 12 to six on most days.

She also revealed that at the critical and busy female surgical ward yesterday (Wednesday) there was no nurse available to work.

Our visit to the anaesthesia department also revealed that few theatre operators were working.

Ministry of Health spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe did not pick up his phone when called to comment on the soaring health problems.

But Ministry of Finance spokesperson Nations Msowoya said what the hospitals got was the best government could afford in the face of economic challenges, adding that hospitals have to manage the little they have.

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